March 22, 2023 - A Redemptive God

      On Sunday morning our youth pastor was scheduled to preach.   I knew it.   Some of the Elders knew it.  There was just one problem.  Scott didn’t know it.  It was during his devotional time on Sunday morning when he saw my email that I was praying for him that he realized that he was scheduled to preach.
      My response ought to be a never-ending apology to Scott for me nor anyone else not communicating that to him.  Of course, I did make that apology.
      God does the Romans 8:28 promise so often in our lives.  He did that in Scott’s life Sunday, but far more in the lives of those of us who heard him.  Without the time to adequately prepare, the Lord told Scott to share his own testimony of his walk with Jesus.
      Scott shared about his coming to Jesus and how God had led him in different paths.  Eventually he came to the time that I knew was coming because I knew of Scott’s love for his mom.  In many ways Scott is like his mom.
      Kathy was diagnosed with a brain tumor and that cancer took her life in a relatively short time. 
       During the tears, his and many of ours, Scott says something that I will never forget.  He says, “I am where I am in my life because of the death of my mother.”  What an astounding statement.
      He shared about how in her wisdom she left an inheritance for Scott and his two siblings that enabled him to return to school and become a high school math teacher.
      He shared how her illness and her death called his younger brother back home from living abroad and living away from Jesus.   Because of his mom’s death, Chris returned to the Lord and is now in ministry.  Chris’ life was changed because of the death of their mom.
      Scott then shared about how his sister has been a fighter through cancer in her life, because she saw the faith and the fight in her mother.
      The lives of all three of Kathy’s children were changed by the death of their mother.
      The word that has kept coming to me over and over is the word “redemptive.”  Her death has been redemptive in the lives of her children.
      Our God is a redemptive God.  We often speak of His nature as one of love and grace and mercy.  Those character traits of God lead to His redemptive nature.
      Obviously, the greatest example of that is the redemptive death of Jesus on the Cross for our sins.  God takes the absolute worst act of human history and transforms it and makes it the most redemptive power in all of human history.
      God can take the death of His Own Son and bring His redeeming power to our lives.
      God can work His Romans 8:28 promise to redeem a bad communicating pastor’s error into a life-changing testimony.
      God can take the painful death of a loving mother and redeem that death by changing the course of the lives of her three children.
      God can take every event of our lives and redeem those events to use them for His purpose and our good.   He can take a bad decision and redeem it by His power so that what once was seen as a curse can become a blessing.
      Thanks, Scott, for sharing your heart.  You have reminded us of the redeeming power of our God.  He took the worst event of your life and used it in ways that only God has the power to do so.  You have helped us see that God can indeed work His power and bring His good for those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose.